Sad news on the subject of Shopwatching - Moore Grocers on Upper Brockley Road has closed down. The stock was cleared last week and the shutters have been down ever since. Mr Moore and his wife ran the last functioning shop on what would once have been a busy shopping street - they will be missed - but could probably do with the rest!

A new takeaway has opened on Endwell Rd opposite Martins Yard called Lithus which offers fried chicken and pizza. It has a fruit machine to occupy yourself while you wait and the chaps that fry are dressed in smart chef regalia – well hats and aprons.

Patrick - Oh no, that's a real shame, we'd been meaning to run a piece about that place for ages. As for local demand, there is a Thai food shop in St Austell, Cornwall, which does pretty good business and there is barely a Thai restaurant within a 50 mile radius of that place.

It was mg who mentioned that the Thai place had gone, not me (just wanted to give credit where it's due!). I guess what I meant was that such a large shop must have a big rent, and for it to be solely devoted to Thai products couldn't have made things easy, given that Thai food is relatively mainstream these days and thus the essentials are available in your bog-standard Sainsbury's.

The Thai shop seemed to close rather suddenly in November/early December, there was a council notice stuck on the window about the premises, then shortly afterwards the shop was full of Christmas trees.

Also at Crofton Park…

The empty shop on the corner of Brockley Road/Hazeldon Road (vacated by Kings Sturge estate agents who relocated to Blackheath at the tail end of last year), has reopened as a hairdressers. On the opposite side of Hazeldon Road, Barrio continues its somewhat sporadic opening hours.

Shopping in Sainsbury's New Cross yesterday I noticed a woman acting furtively by the eggs.

Slyly, she was taking eggs from the organic farm boxes, and swapping them with Sainsbury's Basics, a box of twelve. And all under the (not so) watchful eye of a security guard who did absolutley nothing.

In support of Barrio ( formerly Cafe Blanca) It is true that they are very quiet at the moment. I think they have suffered from a lack of identity in the past. They have variously tried to promote themselves as a coffee shop and a bar. Then they closed for a while. Since they have reopened trade has been slow which is a great shame as their coffee is very good and reasonably priced. They also do nice sandwiches and cakes. The staff are exceptionally helpful and for those of us who go there reguarly it would be a great shame to see them close. If you are in the area please give them a try!

I agree - Barrio is a friendly place with well put together drinks and limited range of (good) food. I was sad when Cafe Blanca ceased though - the Moroccan food was wonderful and I loved the decor. The problem with it was that they had such random opening hours they didn't do well. The thing that worries me with Barrio is that they tried to get away from the old image and ditched some of the best things about the place. They'd hoped to get an extension to turn it into a nightclub/winebar - that didn't happen and it seems to be neither one thing or the other now. I really want them to stay and do well so I'll carry on going.

Machiavelli on being asked why did the chicken cross Brockley road replied.

So that it's subjects will view with admiration, as a chicken which has the daring and courage to boldly cross the road, but also with fear, for whom among them has the strength to contend with such a paragon of avian virtue? In such a manner is the princely chicken's dominion maintained

Getting one on over the man is THEFT, be it from a poor person or a rich person it is still THEFT. If you are happy with living with the title of thief then so be it. Just don't bring your kids up like this. Bet you are a paid up member of the Brock Soc.

of course all middle class people are disgusting hypocrites. All soap operas are written by the middle classes, all soap operas portray the working classes in bad light. The middle classes created Jade Goody as some thick prole to be sneered at, now they revel in the fact that she is dying.All the petty minded pc rules were invented by the middle classes, and they have destroyed education in this country forever. Britain is the laughing stock in Europe because of what these people have done.

Now here is a thought Monkeyboy. Check out Mr Moore's shop it may be up for grabs, and you can open your own Brockley deli, er maybe not it would lower the tone of the street. I live opposite and, my view would be quite spoiled.

Took up your recommendation Monkeyboy, and visited Wellbeloved. Walked away with some very nice T Bones for dinner.

The Art House has an exhibition for Valentines which has free entry. A doll with an umbilical cord attached to an apache helicopter (?) and a piece entitled True Love, I think, which involves a swinging willy are on show. Some nice, some utterly weird.

OK, as a result of antisocial exchanges on this thread, we are closing comments for a while.

For the record, this site does not allow anyone to advocate law-breaking, indeed the post that triggered the argument was highlighting a problem which the reader had attempted to report to prevent by reporting it to the proper authorities. It seems that point was missed in the exchanges that followed.

Please keep to the topic and do not abuse eachother or throw baseless allegations around.

PS - people who post anonymously can't say they are being persecuted if they have comments deleted - we don't know who you are, so it's not personal. Bad language, personal abuse and threats and incitments to hatred are all reason enough to delete a post. If you can't make a point without resort to abuse then you must accept that your post will be subject to deletion.

Wow, this thread's been moving somewhat since I last posted about those eggs.

I'm afraid I've missed most of the arguments, as a few responses appear to have been deleted.

Anyway, the woman in particular was stealing from the person who eventually purchased what they though were higher-priced eggs, in other words me and the if you opt for free range.

If you agree with her actions you may as well open up your wallets to any potential mugger and just offer the contents.

As far as Anons go, most of the persons who post here are, in some ways, anonymous. One in particular has a very public campaign but hides his domain registration details behind a proxy 'identity' shield'? A true cyber terrorist if ever.

Agree that the only person who could arguably have been stolen from was whoever bought the factory farm eggs in the barn egg box. And whether or not they actually suffered depends on whether there is a perceptible difference between the eggs. I would suspect that there isn't, particularly if they are used in cakes or scrambled. Surely one buys farm or free range eggs on principle, not for the "flavour"?

Of course, the moniker in this instance is a pretty obvious allusion to Winona Ryder (Hollywood actress) who famously faced charges for shoplifting in SAKS New York in 2001. Sorry, perhaps a bit too subtle (I'm not being sarcastic).

"As far as Anons go, most of the persons who post here are, in some ways, anonymous. One in particular has a very public campaign but hides his domain registration details behind a proxy 'identity' shield'? A true cyber terrorist if ever."

if anyone is interested to hear, the new shop on mantle road is a 'computer repair/ maintainence' shop. Pretty exciting stuff really, it's open already and at least it's what I call a 'clean' business (I.e does not make the street look nasty).

There seems to a number of shops opening around the station- it's good times for brockley. Shame my house price doesn't reflect this :0(